Dear Members, Donors, and Friends of the Museum, I’m so pleased to share with you this annual report which captures the energy and impact of the Grand Rapids Art Museum, while documenting many of our wonderful accomplishments of the past year. GRAM serves as an important cultural and civic anchor focused on art, design, and creativity. By offering innovative exhibitions, award-winning learning initiatives, and engaging community collaborations, the Museum provides a platform for experiences, ideas, and dialogue for Grand Rapids, Michigan, and beyond. Our dedicated Board and staff have been working diligently to enhance our exhibition and education programs, enrich the guest experience, and build a broader audience. Whether you visit during a Member Preview Party, ArtPrize, a school tour, a classical music concert, or a social event, you can’t help but to notice GRAND RAPIDS ART MUSEUM LEADERSHIP TEAM how alive the Museum is becoming. DANA FRIIS-HANSEN Director & CEO As we work together to move the Museum forward, we are committed to PATTI KENYON building stronger community engagement through individual and collaborative Director of Finance and Administration relationships. Strengthening our base of support is increasingly important to MARGERY PRESUTTI ensure institutional sustainability and to offer these vital and growing programs. Director of Human Resources We truly value your partnership and confidence in GRAM and thank you for your ELLY BARNETTE-DAWSON continued involvement. Director of Advancement JON CARFAGNO Warm regards, Director of Learning and Audience Engagement RON PLATT Chief Curator KERRI VANDERHOFF DANA FRIIS-HANSEN GoSite Director Director and CEO GRAND RAPIDS ART MUSEUM Envisioning an exciting future through a reimagined strategic plan. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE Focusing on art, design, and creativity, GRAM will provide diverse platforms for experiences, ideas, and dialogue that enrich the human spirit and build practical learning skills. Through dynamic exhibitions, collections, learning initiatives, and community collaborations, GRAM will increasingly serve as a cultural beacon and civic anchor. OBJECTIVES Expand the Impact of Art Enhance and innovate exhibitions, collections, learning, and content creation Activate the Museum Experience Design experiences that promote audience engagement, diversity, and participation Integrate Innovation Skills Practice and advance human-centered design and 21st century learning skills Advance Civic and Cultural Leadership Increase cultural and civic impact locally, regionally, and beyond. Build Institutional Strength Fortify institutional stability through earned and philanthropic financial growth, and by managing and leveraging assets GRAM staff and trustees working together to shape the future. RE-ACCREDITATION! The Grand Rapids Art Museum has again achieved accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition for a museum! AAM accreditation brings national recognition to GRAM for its commitment to excellence, accountability, high professional standards, and continued institutional improvement. Accreditation is a very rigorous but highly rewarding process that examines all aspects of a museum’s operations. Of the nation’s nearly 17,500 museums, just over 1,000 are currently accredited and GRAM is proud to be among this elite group of institutions. Thank you to all those who participated in this process. VIBRANTAND CONNECTED As a cultural beacon and civic anchor, attracting and engaging diverse audiences, and providing an environment that is welcoming and inclusive to all guests is at the forefront of everything that we do. GRAM creates a dynamic environment for the open exchange of ideas which provides a platform for individual and community growth, elevating our civic dialogue and transforming our society in unexpected ways. WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART ARTPRIZE 2014 The past several years at GRAM have brought exceptional GRAM has established itself as one of downtown Grand exhibitions to West Michigan from some of the best Rapids’ premier venues during ArtPrize, a radically open, museums in the country. three-week, international art competition. In 2014, GRAM was recognized on the short list as an Outstanding Venue by In 2012 an extended partnership with the Whitney ArtPrize jurors for serving as an exhibition center providing Museum of American Art began, bringing 3 world-class unparalleled exhibition space and public accessibility to art exhibitions to GRAM; Rauschenberg: Synapsis Shuffle; Real/ from around the world. Surreal; Legacy: The Emily Fisher Landau Collection; and T. J. Wilcox: GRAM selected 19 artists for its ArtPrize 2014 exhibition, In the Air. We owe a special [DIS]COMFORT ZONES. The exhibition featured works of art thanks to Pamella DeVos—a Board from regional, national, and international artists, utilizing Member that we share with the Whitney—for making various mediums including painting, sculpture, mixed media, these presentations possible. drawing, photography, and video. These works highlighted the powerful ways in which artists take risks and push 2013 also brought an opportunity for West Michigan to boundaries. discover how artists have captured nature’s essential role in the American experience with the exhibition of Masterpieces of American Landscape Painting, which “If you want to see a likely [ArtPrize] winner or two, your included highlights from the prestigious collection of the best bet is to head for the [Art] Museum. No other venue Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. comes close.” - MLive, 2014 11,206 VISITORS GRAM ON THE GREEN FREE A partnership with Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation MEIJER FREE TUESDAYS & MEIJER FREE THURSDAY NIGHTS and the Downtown Alliance brought free live music to Free general admission all day Tuesdays and after 5:00 PM over 1,500 people in downtown Grand Rapids for 6 weeks on Thursdays was made possible for 11,206 visitors thanks in July and August. This outdoor summer music series at to a generous partnership with Meijer. Rosa Parks Circle featured live music, dancing, outdoor sketching, and games for all ages. SUNDAY CLASSICAL CONCERT SERIES On Sunday afternoons from October through March, GRAM hosted live classical music concerts. A total of 1,627 guests enjoyed concerts from a diverse lineup of artists. CREATIVITY UNCORKED This after-hours event invited adults to grab a glass of wine and let their artistic side flow in GRAMStudio. GRAM hosted 10 events with 249 individuals participating. ARTPRIZE 2014 BY THE NUMBERS VOLUNTEERS 177,000 + guests / Hosted Intersections, winner of the 370 volunteers devoted over 9,700 Public and Juried Grand Prizes / Hosted 4 Top 20 artists hours of service, including over 3,500 / 289 volunteers increased time devoted by 37% / 1,060 service hours by GRAM Docents. We families participated in GRAMStudio programming /900 love our volunteers and could not do + students engaged in ArtPrize Education Days / 741 9,700 Hours this with out them! people experienced 74 tours / 395 new members, 29% increase / 270 renewed memberships, 9% increase. [DIS]COMFORT ZONES featured Anila Quayyum Agha’s Intersections, which won the ArtPrize 2014 Public Grand Prize and split the Juried Grand Prize. GRAM was proud to feature 4 ArtPrize Top 20 artists, including the winners of the Three- Dimensional and Installation categories. ArtPrize founder, Rick DeVos with ArtPrize 2014 winner, Anila Quayyum Agha EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT Creating experiences that promote audience engagement, diversity, and participation provides the opportunity to develop the creative minds of visitors of all ages. Infusing our world with art at all stages of life is fundamental to the development of essential 21st-century skills. LANGUAGE ARTISTS GRAM’s Language Artists program played a significant role integrating literacy and the visual arts, at a time when funding for arts programs in schools waned. This program was created specifically for third grade educators and students, and is based on a curriculum developed in partnership with Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS). By offering these free tours to area third grade classrooms, GRAM helped these students build essential skills in the fundamentals of description, compare/contrast, beginning/middle/end, and “The collaboration between GRPS and GRAM problem/solution. 2,140 GRPS third graders participated in exemplifies the best of what partnerships can bring: the program during the 2013-2014 school year, an increase a strong commitment to the arts and core content of 19% over last year. Since the implementation of the create stronger students, and ultimately, a more Language Artists program, GRPS has seen an increase in vibrant community.” student MEAP writing assessment proficiency of 2%, with – Rick Noel, Executive Director of Elementary Schools and individual schools seeing increases as great as 20%. Early Childhood Education for Grand Rapids Public Schools DOCENT-LED TOURS GRAM’s docent program served a total of 5,333 SOOPER YOOPER ART COMPETITION students, families, and adults—a 6.6% increase in The fourth annual environmentally inspired children’s art tour participation—with51 docents leading 204 tours, contest saw 527 entries from students ages 5 through including 88 tours for students from West Michigan 18. Entries were judged on the basis of originality, schools, 11 tours for Girl and Boy Scout Troops, and 105 creativity, and connection to the natural world and/or tours for members of the public. ecological issues. 45 winners were selected